PARIS, April 3 (Reuters) - European shares rallied on
Thursday, with some national indexes hitting multi-year highs,
after the European Central Bank opened the door for
unconventional measures to thwart the risk of deflation.

Spanish stocks strongly outperformed as data showed the
country's service sector expanded more than expected last month,
fuelling hopes economic recovery is picking up pace.

Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index for the service sector,
which makes up about half of economic output, rose to 54.0 in
March from 53.7 in February, marking the fifth straight month
the index was above the 50 line separating growth from
contraction.

Spanish banks led the rally, with BBVA rising 3.3
percent and Banco Popular gaining 3.2 percent. Madrid's
IBEX surged 1.7 percent, to 10,602.6 points and hitting
a near-three year high.

"Sooner (rather) than later we will see the IBEX hitting
11,000 points. People don't want to miss the rally, so there's a
strong buying pressure in the market," said Margarita Rivas,
senior investment strategist at GVC Gaesco Valores, in Madrid.
Continuación...